“spice”

1. “spice” • derives from the Latin word species, meaning specific kind, and later, goods or merchandise. Plants that Changed History, Joan Elma Rhan, 1982

2. Spices • Orient • cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, black pepper, ginger, cloves, cardamom • New World • allspice, chilies, vanilla

3. First use of spices • Today we use spices primarily to make good food taste even better • In the days before refrigeration they used to hide the taste and odor of spoiled food. • Today some perfumes, soaps, and lotions are lightly scented with species • In the days before people took frequent baths, species were used as deodorants. Those who could afford to do so had spices sown or tucked into their clothes to hide their body odors. Plants that Changed History, Joan Elma Rhan, 1982

4. Spices in History • Ancient Egypt big users of spices • Mummies were packed with spices • Aristocrats burned cinnamon in their palaces so they could hide the stench from the outside. • Most spices thought to have medicinal properties

5. Ancient History • Egypt • Greeks • Roman empire • Arab controlled • Dark Ages 641-1096 • Lost access to spices from the Orient Trade between the empires of Asia and Rome

6. Spice Trade • Crusades in 1096: Europeans are out fighting in Syria and taste exotic spices and want to bring them back • 1180’s: Pepperer’s guild, predecessor to herbalist and physicians • Middle Ages: spices valuable trade item used to pay bills, taxes • 1300’s: Polo brothers travel to China and bring back tales of spices. • By 1300’s: spice trade was a legitimate profession.

7. Why were spices popular for trading • it was very lucrative • transported easily • very popular with the upper classes • spicy food considered classy, sign of wealth • put spices in everything • e.g. Ginger bread

8. Papal Race for Spice Islands • During the late 15th century, the popes favorites • Spain and Portugal • After that, Pope issued a decree to divide the world between Spain and Portugal from Pole to Pole • Portugal got the EAST, Spain got the WEST

9. Age of Exploration • onset of an age of exploration that lasted almost 500 years • Columbus discovered America in 1492 • didn’t know the size of the Earth or about the Pacific Ocean • Charles V and King of Spain, sent Magellan on an expedition to reach the spice islands • westward route through the South Seas and Spice Islands

10. Where Columbus and Magellan voyages “failures” ? • Neither won for Spain the easy access to spices that she wanted • Columbus never found the spices or the lands he sought • Magellan’s expedition reached the Spice Islands, but the route across the Pacific Ocean was much too long and much too dangerous to be practical then Plants that Changed History, Joan Elma Rhan, 1982

11. What spice trade accomplished • New lands were discovered and the question of whether the world was spherical or flat was finally decided • New plants and animals were discovered; some of them were transported to continents where they had never been before but where the climate was suitable • People’s diets became more varied and better balanced Europeans, whose homelands were beginning to be overpopulated, colonized the newly discovered lands, some of which had plenty of space • Generally this worked out well for the Europeans but rather badly for the natives of the colonized countries • For better or worse, the search for species brought together the civilizations that had originated separately in the ancient worlds. They would never be isolated again Plants that Changed History, Joan Elma Rhan, 1982

12. Imperialism • Spain annexed Portugal in 1580, and was too big to defend against other countries • England and Netherlands get into the act • Dutch took over the Indonesia • Dutch East India company • England took over India, Ceylon, Singapore, Hong Kong • British East India company

13. England and Holland • 1824: England and Dutch sign a treaty giving Holland, Malay archipelago • Britain gets India, Ceylon, Singapore, Hong Kong • Very competitive people

15. Piper nigrum • Climbing vine in hot, wet climate • Berries picked green, darken & shrivel upon drying • Biting flavor due to volatile oils, flavor dissipates after grinding • White pepper – berries ripen on vine, outer hull removed

16. Cinnamomum zeylanicum • Parts UsedOil, bark • PropertiesAstringent, stimulant, carminative, anti-infective, antifungal, digestive aid • Common UsesUsed as a flavoring for foods, it may aid digestion, and lessen the potential of food poisoning or food-borne disease. • OriginNative to Sri Lanka, India. One of the spices responsible for the start of world trade.

17. Eugenia caryophyllata • Parts Used: Flower buds • Active Compounds:Clove oil is 60 to 90 percent eugenol, which is the source of its anesthetic and antiseptic properties. • an evergreen tree, 15 to 30 feet tall, native to the Spice Islands and the Philippines but also grown in India, Sumatra, Jamaica, the West Indies, Brazil, and other tropical areas

18. Myristica fragans • Part Used---Dried kernel of the seed • tree is about 25 feet high, has a greyish-brown smooth bark, abounding in a yellow juice • Fruit is source of 2 spices, nutmeg & mace • Mace is derived from the netlike aril that is wrapped around the pit • Within the pit is a single seed, the source of nutmeg

19. Zingiber officinale • PLANT PART USED : Rhizome • name from Sanskrit word stringa-vera, which means “with a body like a horn”, as in antlers. • In English pubs and taverns in the nineteenth century, barkeepers put out small containers of ground ginger, for people to sprinkle into their beer — the origin of ginger ale. http://www.viable-herbal.com/herbdesc1/1gingerr.htm

20. Curcuma longa (turmeric) • Part used: rhizome • Culinary, dyes

21. Crocus sativus • ‘zafaran’ Arabic • 3-parted Stigma for saffron • Dried by slow roasting • Impacts delicate & enticing taste & color • French, Spanish, Middle Eastern & Indian cooking • Each saffron crocus flower has 3 stigmas • 80,000 flowers (240,000) stigmas to make a pound of saffron • 12 days to pick • cost is $600 to $2000 per pound. • 1444: any merchant caught selling adulterated saffron in Bavaria was burned alive

22. 16,000,000: Pure capsaicin 100,000 - 350,000 Habanero 30,000 - 50,000 Cayenne pepper 5,000 - 23,000 Serrano pepper 2,500 - 5,000 Tabasco sauce/Jalapeno 1,000 - 2,000 Poblano pepper 100 - 500 Pepperoncini pepper 0 Sweet Bell pepper Scoville ratings http://members.visi.net/~mandy/pepguide.html#guide

23. Vanilla planifolia • flavoring comes from the seed pod, or the ‘bean’ of the vanilla plant • Member of orchid family • behind, saffron and cardamom, vanilla is 3rd most expensive spice • non-culinary uses, including aromatizing perfumes, cigars and liqueurs • Europeans prefer the bean, while N. Americans the extract • extract made by percolating alcohol and water through chopped, cured beans

24. herbs • Kitchen • Shampoos, cosmetics, soaps, potpourris, medicines • Aromatic leaves • Sometimes seeds of temperate plants • Some are other plant organs

25. Mint Family • Native to Mediterranean region • includes thyme, sages, lavender, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, savory, hyssops, basil, the various mints, catnip, and horehound • common garden mint is spearmint, not peppermint • Square stems & aromatic simple leaves with oil glands • in Mexico, known as yerba buena, the good herb. • Mint is said to be an effective mouse deterrent

26. Parsley Family • includes carrots, celery, dill, parsley, parsnips, fennel, caraway, anise, coriander, cumin, poison hemlock and water hemlock • Parsley seed oil is used in shampoo, soap and men’s perfumes • Italian parsley, Petroselinum crispum, is a plain flat leaved parsley, with darker green leaves than curly leaved parsley, and a stronger but less bitter flavor. • Add during last few moments of cooking for the best flavor, or sprinkled raw on salads, soups, fish, meat, etc.

27. Mustard (Brassicaceae) • (white, yellow), Brassica alba; black (brown), Brassica nigra) • Mustard plants produce about 1,000 pounds of seeds per acre. • In one year at New York's Yankee Stadium more than 1,600 gallons plus 2,000,000 individual packets of mustard are consumed. • Most of the mustard seeds used in Dijon, France are actually grown in the United States and Canada. Canada produces about 90 percent of the world's supply of mustard seeds. • Over 700 million pounds of mustard are consumed worldwide each year. • The Mustard Museum is in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin. • world's largest collection of mustards, with over 3,500 varieties.

28. Horseradish • prized for its medicinal and gastronomic qualities for centuries. Did you know that . . . • Horseradish is still planted and harvested mostly by hand? • Sales of bottled horseradish began in 1860, making it one of the first convenience foods? • In the American South, horseradish was rubbed on the forehead to relieve headaches? (Some folks still swear by it.) • Horseradish is added to some pickles to add firmness and "nip"? • Before being named "horseradish," the plant was known as "redcole" in England and as "stingnose" in some parts of the U.S.? • Horseradish has only 2 calories a teaspoon, is low in sodium and provides dietary fiber? • Researchers at M.I.T. claim that the enzyme "horseradish peroxidase" removes a number of pollutants from waste water? • Germans still brew horseradish schnapps . . . . some also add it to their beer?

29. Alliums (onion family)Example: Leek • swollen, overlapping leaf bases are eaten cooked as a vegetable. • originates from the wild species Allium ampeloprasum which occurs from Portugal and North Africa eastwards to Turkey, Iran and about Tajikistan. • national plant of the Welsh

30. Garlic • culinary, medicinal and religious use dates back more than 6000 years. • Chicago got its name from the American Indian word for the wild garlic that grew around Lake Michigan - "chicagaoua". • California produces more than 250 million pounds of garlic each year. One farm in Monterey County (near Gilroy "The Garlic Capital of the World") plants 2000 acres of garlic and produces almost 25 million pounds annually. • There is an all-garlic restaurant in Stockholm where they offer a garlic cheesecake. • There is an all-garlic restaurant in San Francisco where they offer a garlic ice cream. The name of the place is a nickname for garlic...The Stinking Rose!

31. onions • originated in Asia, • ancient Egyptians worshipped the onion, believing that its spherical shape and concentric rings symbolized eternity. Of all the vegetables that had their images created from precious metals by Egyptian artists, only the onion was made out of gold. • ranks sixth among the world's leading vegetable crops. • you can get rid of onion breath by eating parsley • Yellow onions make up more than 75% of the worlds production of onions. • The official state vegetable of Georgia is the Vidalia onion. • The official state vegetable of Texas is the Texas Sweet onion. • According to the National Onion Association, onion consumption in the U.S. has increased approximately 50% over the past 20 years.